~ Stories and reflections

Tag Archives: Library of Birmingham

Josh Allen in his post on Birmingham Central Library reflects on a childhood as a library user in Birmingham and how the city’s civic architecture reflects the politics of the age.

He writes:

‘…the Conservative-LibDem Coalition, so keen to ensure that Birmingham’s Council Tax rises were “amongst the lowest in the country” during the “boom” years, borrowed off the books through a private finance initiative type arrangement to buy the Library of Birmingham. Today the repayments and interest on this deal cost the city £12million a year. Getting a building worth £190million for nearly £500million is a poor deal by any yardstick, and at a time of swingeing budget cuts it becomes unsustainable. According to The Guardian’s Jonathan Glancey refurbishing and modernising the Central Library would have cost no more than £20million. Operating today with a skeleton staff, no events budget and opening hours nearly half what they were upon opening the Library of Birmingham, like cultural provision and local public services in Birmingham more generally, is in a sorry state.’

A few weeks ago we were just a few people with a wallpaper pasting table and a petition and a crumpled banner outside the Library of Birmingham. Now we’re going to ‘Make Some Noise’, to quote Benjamin Zephaniah…

I had just been re-reading Sebastian Faulks’ introduction to his WW1 book ‘Birdsong’:

“I wrote Birdsong…in a sort of frenzy, completing about 1500 words each morning, then taking the Tube to the Imperial War Museum and reading documents from the enormous collection until the reading room closed. At night I dreamt I was in a trench.”

Now that reading room is under threat. Please consider supporting the on-line petition (it can be signed from abroad).

A search of change.org using ‘library’ as the search term produced 7,690 results. It’s time our politicians realised that even in the Internet age, libraries and archives are important. Without archives, we have no history. Without history, we cannot make democracy work. We have to learn and remember the lessons of the past.

Outside the Library of Birmingham for two hours today. My ears are still numb with cold! But at least I’ve done something, however small. It’s fascinating talking to the library users. Visitors from outside the city – I spoke to a lady from Iran who said she had travelled the world and visited almost every town in the UK – as well as local residents. I’d estimate that at least half the library users are young people – especially college students.

I spoke to a young man who said he wants to get his qualifications and go to university, and he needs the library and its facilities as a place to study. He needs it to be open during the evenings and weekends. He said: ‘Why won’t the politicians listen to us?’ I said: ‘If we don’t say anything, they will have nothing to listen to. Maybe I’m not doing any good, by standing here giving out leaflets. But at least I haven’t remained silent. Write your views down, and we will send it in to the Council.’

Then, it was as if he realised that his views mattered, even if only in a small way. And he went and filled in a petition slip and gave it in.